Tag Archive | "brandel chamblee"

So, with one quote, one sentence, Tiger Woods put The Golf Channel on notice a couple of days ago.

They BETTER fire Brandel Chamblee.

Much like Chamblee didn’t actually “say” that Woods cheated during the 2013 PGA TOUR season, Woods didn’t mouth the words “Fire the man” when he commented for the first time about Chamblee’s comments.

Very, very crafty, Tiger. Give him a dose of his own medicine.

When asked about Chamblee’s cheating accusation in a piece he wrote for Golf.Com (not affiliated with The Golf Channel), Woods fired the big blow (no pun intended) when he said, “From my standpoint, I’m moving forward. Now, it’s up to The Golf Channel. I’m not sure what they’re going to do about it. The balls in their court.”

In other words: “We’ll have to see if The Golf Channel does the right thing and fires the prick.”

Chamblee offered an apology-of-sorts on Twitter late last week, but Woods acknowledged there wasn’t any personal contact between the two. I guess, in Tiger’s world, a Twitter apology doesn’t really count. And, honestly, it probably doesn’t. If you’re Brandel Chamblee and you’re genuinely apologetic, you figure out a way to get to Tiger personally and offer your mea culpa in a form Tiger can’t shoo away.

This is, indeed, a slippery slope for The Golf Channel. They can’t hire an analyst, want his/her opinion, value it, then give him/her the boot when he/she says something that creates a stir. This year it’s Tiger. What if, next year, Rickie Fowler is golf’s golden boy and one of The Golf Channel’s critics blast him for his goofy swing and penchant for wild nightlife?

Chamblee has been a constant critic of Tiger’s over the last 4-5 years — mostly about his golf swing, but in other areas as well — so this latest “cheating scandal” has reeked of a personal vendetta more than a professional critique.

That said, as an analyst, Chamblee is supposed to give his honest opinion of what he sees and feels, and the former PGA TOUR player isn’t the only person out there who think Woods is somewhat cavalier with the rules.

Tiger, obviously, owns all the power cards here. The Golf Channel is knee-deep with the TOUR and to have the game’s best player “against you” won’t work out well for interviews, both pre and post, plus Sean Foley, Tiger’s instructor, is a regular guest on Golf Channel instructional shows.

My guess is Chamblee will be suspended by The Golf Channel, but I wouldn’t at all be surprised if he’s terminated over this flap with Woods.

Tiger didn’t ask for the firing, just like Chamblee didn’t actually say Woods cheated, but you can put one and one together and see that’s what he wants.

I’ve watched bits and pieces of just about every Capitals game thus far in the ’13-14 campaign and it’s becoming more apparent with every viewing opportunity that Washington is going to struggle to make the post-season.

Their defense is terrible.

If not for Braden Holtby — and let’s face it, he’s only a “good” goaltender, nothing more, really — they might not have a win yet this season.

And, if Alex Ovechkin gets a bruised shoulder in two weeks and he misses ten games, they’re not winning any of those contests.

The Caps defense is really bad.

The only two guys who give a representative defensive effort every night are Carlson and Alzner…and both of them are capable of throwing up a stinker-of-a-shift once a period.

Erskine? Time to put him out to pasture.

Green? Doesn’t really play defense, not sure you can even consider him a defenseman.

Olesky? Still learning. He might be OK actually, but he doesn’t have a mentor to look up to, that’s for sure.

The Metropolitan Division is like moving up from the J.V. to the Varsity as far as the Caps are concerned. No more lay-ups against the bums of the Southeast Division…they have to play real hockey now, 60 nights a year.

Ain’t gonna happen, I’m afraid to say.

Not with this bunch trying to play defense, that is.

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I’ll take the Red Sox in seven games in the World Series.

Not sure why.

I just think it’s their time.

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It would appear that Tiger Woods and “his people” have more impact at The Golf Channel than perhaps Brandel Chamblee realized.

Chamblee, the outstanding analyst for TGC, essentially called Woods a “cheater” last week when handing out his end-of-season grades for the recently completed 2013 season. He cited several rules infractions Woods was involved in over a 5-month period and likened them to an episode of his back in grade school when a teacher of Chamblee’s cited him for cheating on a test.

The analyst never said the words “cheating” in his column for Golf.com, but he might as well have.

Earlier on Tuesday, Chamblee defended his piece and his accusations about Woods and the rules issues he ran up against…that lasted until about 8pm on Tuesday night when Chamblee sent out a series of five tweets that apologized – directly – to Woods.

He was adamant that the apology wasn’t forced by The Golf Channel or Golf.com, but the timing certainly looked odd if you ask me.

Calling someone a cheater in golf is the absolute worst thing you can do.

For the record – in my opinion anyway – Woods is NOT a cheater.

As Seve Ballesteros once told Paul Azinger at the 1991 Ryder Cup: “Cheating and not knowing the rules are two totally different things.”

That said, I still contend that Tiger should have withdrawn from The Masters last April after his Saturday rules snafu where he took a bad drop on the 15th hole.

But — like Seve said: Cheating and not knowing the rules are different.